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Salary data from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Mining And Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers Salary: Reno, NV vs Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA

Mining And Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers earn a median of $82,670 in Reno, NV and $142,520 in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA. That is a nominal gap of $59,850 (-42.0%), with Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA paying more before any cost-of-living adjustment.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2024 estimates. Cost-of-living adjustment uses BEA Regional Price Parities, most recent release.

$82,670
Reno, NV median
$81,840 after COL
$142,520
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA median
$125,495 after COL
-42.0%
Nominal gap
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA leads
-34.8%
Adjusted gap
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA leads after COL

The story behind the numbers

On raw wages, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA pays $59,850 more per year than Reno, NV for mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers, a gap of +42.0%.

After adjusting for cost of living, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA still comes out ahead, with roughly $43,655 of extra purchasing power (+34.8% real gap). Local prices do not reverse the nominal advantage.

Full breakdown by location

Detailed wage, employment, and cost-of-living figures for mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers in each location. Click through to the full local salary page for percentiles, outlook, and peer areas.

Mining And Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers

Reno, NV

Median salary
$82,670
Mean salary
$100,600
Employment
70
Location quotient
5.58
Jobs per 1,000
0.2
COL-adjusted median
$81,840
Regional Price Parity
101.0%

Exact metro RPP match.

Full Mining And Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers page for Reno, NV →

Mining And Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA

Median salary
$142,520
Mean salary
$130,090
Employment
340
Location quotient
1.26
Jobs per 1,000
0.1
COL-adjusted median
$125,495
Regional Price Parity
113.6%

Exact metro RPP match.

Full Mining And Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers page for Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA →

Related pages

Keep digging into mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers from a different angle.

Common questions about this comparison

What does the cost-of-living adjustment actually do? +

It divides each location's nominal median wage by its Regional Price Parity (RPP), which measures how local prices compare to the national average (100 = national). A wage of $100,000 in an area with RPP 120 has the same purchasing power as roughly $83,000 nationally.

Why would the nominal and adjusted winners disagree? +

High-cost metros often pay higher salaries, but not by enough to fully offset the higher cost of housing, goods, and services. When that happens, the location with the lower nominal wage actually offers more real purchasing power.

What is a location quotient? +

The location quotient measures how concentrated an occupation is in a given area versus the national average. A value of 2.0 means the occupation is twice as common there as nationally. It is a signal of what a metro specializes in.